The staff at Flour is sort of vaguely happy you're there. I had put my coat down on a seat and went to use the restroom. When I returned, someone else had sat at the other seat at the table. She only spoke Italian, she was only having a bowl of soup and I a salad, so I didn't mind sharing. But she seemed to complain to the server, who offered me another table, which was dirty. Which was weird. I was there first. Did she not notice--when she asked me Where are you going to sit? and I said, I'll sit here, and put my coat down? Confusing.
The salad was alright--light on protein (mozzarella) and heavy on romaine that needed to be shredded smaller so it wasn't so sloppy to eat, but it was a SALAD, and fresh, which I had been craving for nearly a week in Rome. Salad did not come with bread or anything else. I snagged some Romano cheese from my surprise tablemate's soup service, which helped fill out the taste. My espresso macchiato was decent if not great. The room is super noisy, kind of disorganized, and the staff keep having to explain the buffet menu to EVERYone who walks in because it's not clearly marked or posted. Maybe a printed sheet or...well, something, would be in order.
It's also hard to find the cash desk. The server had to point me further down twice, because it's not where you'd think or where it looks like there's a cash out. (That's just a computer for fun, apparently.) As I was checking out, four guys were unloading bags of flour and rice and bringing them past me. It was as though I was the one in the way. Which...is strange, given that I was attempting to pay.
I might go back, but if I do, I will expect less. read more